The city, with downtown elevation of approximately 680 feet (210 m), lies at the transition between the ridge-and-valley portion of the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. Surrounded by mountains and ridges, the official nickname for Chattanooga is the Scenic City, reinforced by the city's reputation for outdoor activities. Unofficial nicknames include River City, Chatt, Nooga, Chattown, and Gig City, referencing Chattanooga's claims that it has the fastest internet service in the Western Hemisphere.[8][9]

The city has its own typeface, Chatype, which was launched in August 2012. According to the Nooga.com website, this marks the first time that an American city has its own custom-made typeface and also the first time a crowd-funded custom-made typeface has been used for any municipality in the world.[10]

The Citico town and mound site was the most significant Mississippian/Muscogee landmark in Chattanooga up to 1915. The first part of the name "Chattanooga" derives from the Muskogean word cvto /chắtȯ/ – 'rock'.[11] The latter may be derived from a regional suffix -nuga meaning dwelling or dwelling place.

The earliest Cherokee occupation dates from Dragging Canoe, who in 1776 separated himself and moved downriver from the main tribe to establish Native American resistance during the Cherokee–American wars) to European settlement in the southeastern United States. In 1816 John Ross, who later became Principal Chief, established Ross's Landing. Located along what is now Broad Street, it became one of the centers of Cherokee Nation settlement, which also extended into Georgia and Alabama.[12]

In 1838 the US government forced the Cherokees, along with other Native Americans from southeastern U.S. states, to relocate to the area designated as Indian Territory, in what is now the state of Oklahoma. Their journey west became known as the "Trail of Tears" for their exile and fatalities along the way. The US Army used Ross's Landing as the site of one of three large internment camps, or "emigration depots", where Native Americans were held prior to the journey on the Trail of Tears. One of the internment camps was located in Fort Payne, Alabama and the largest was at Fort Cass, Tennessee.[13]

In 1839, the community of Ross's Landing incorporated as the city of Chattanooga. The city grew quickly, initially benefiting from a location well-suited for river commerce. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, Chattanooga became a boom town. The city was known as the site "where cotton meets corn," referring to its location along the cultural boundary between the mountain communities of Southern Appalachia to the north and the cotton-growing states to the south.[12]

The largest flood in Chattanooga's history occurred in 1867, before the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system was created in 1933 by Congress. The flood crested at 58 feet (18 m) and completely inundated the city. Since the completion of the reservoir system, the highest Chattanooga flood stage has been nearly 37 feet (11 m), which occurred in 1973. Without regulation, the flood would have crested at 52.4 feet (16.0 m).[15] Chattanooga was a major priority in the design of the TVA reservoir system and remains a major operating priority in the 21st century.[15]

The same mountains that provide Chattanooga's scenic backdrop also served to trap industrial pollutants which caused them to settle over the community, so much that in 1969, the federal government declared that Chattanooga had the dirtiest air in the nation.[23] But environmental crises were not the only problems plaguing the city. Like other early industrial cities, Chattanooga entered the 1980s with serious socioeconomic challenges, including job layoffs due to de-industrialization, deteriorating city infrastructure, racial tensions, and social division. Chattanooga's population declined by more than 10% in the 1980s. However, Chattanooga was the only major U.S. city to lose this proportion of its population in the 1980s and then regain the same proportion in the next two decades.[24]

In late 20th and early 21st centuries, substantial private and governmental resources have been invested in transforming the city's tarnished image. They have worked to revitalize its downtown and riverfront areas, making use of its natural resources.[25][26] An early cornerstone of this project was a restoration lasting several years, from the mid-to-late 1980s to 1993, of the historic Walnut Street Bridge. An excellent specimen of the Camelback truss bridge, it is the oldest surviving bridge of its kind in the Southeastern United States, having been built in 1891.

Efforts to improve the city include the "21st Century Waterfront Plan" – a $120 million redevelopment of the Chattanooga waterfront and downtown area, which was completed in 2005. The Tennessee Aquarium, which opened in 1992, has become a major waterfront attraction that has helped to spur neighborhood development.[27] Chattanooga has garnered numerous accolades for its transformation of its image. The city has won three national awards for outstanding "livability", and nine Gunther Blue Ribbon Awards for excellence in housing and consolidated planning.[28] In addition to winning various national and regional awards, Chattanooga has been in the national limelight numerous times. Chattanooga was the profile city of the August 2007 edition of US Airways Magazine.[29] In a seminal event for Chattanooga, Volkswagen announced in July 2008 the construction of its first U.S. auto plant in over three decades, the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant.[30] In December 2009, Chattanooga was ranked 8th out of America's 100 largest metro areas for the best "Bang For Your Buck" city, according to Forbes magazine, which measured overall affordability, housing rates, and more.[31] Chattanooga launched the first one gigabit a second Internet service in the United States in September 2010, provided through the city-owned utility of EPB.[32] In August 2012, Chattanooga got its own typeface, called Chatype, which marks the first time a municipality has its own typeface in the United States and the first crowd-funded, custom-made typeface in the world.[10][33][34]

In addition to corporate business interests, there are many retail shops in Chattanooga, including two shopping malls: Hamilton Place Mall in East Brainerd and Northgate Mall in Hixson. Eastgate Mall in Brainerd used to be a shopping mall, but has changed into a multi-use office building. The P.F. Chang's restaurant at Hamilton Place Mall has had a unique theme since the restaurant opened in November 2006: water, based on the fundamental role the Tennessee River plays in Chattanooga and the fact that the CEO of P.F. Chang's since 2000, Richard Federico, is a 1976 alumnus of the University of Tennessee and has family in Chattanooga.[44] In December 2001, Chattanooga was the site of the first two Dairy Queen Grill and Chill restaurants in the United States.[45][46][47]

Tourism and Hospitality has been a growing part of Chattanooga's economy, with 2014 being the first year for Hamilton County to surpass $1 billion in revenue.

Startups have been an increasing trend, due in part to EPB's fiber optic grid. Notable venture firms based in the city are Blank Slate Ventures, Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, Lamp Post Group, SwiftWing Ventures, and The Jump Fund. The city is served by several incubators, notably Co.Lab, the Business Development Center, and Lamp Post Group. The Business Development Center is among the nation's largest incubators, both in square footage and in the number of startups that it supports.[48] Co-working spaces have picked up downtown, including Society of Work and Chattanooga Workspace. Unique in the city is the startup accelerator Gigtank, which utilizes the city's gigabit capacities and focuses on 3D printing, healthcare, and smartgrid technologies. Notable startups include Quickcue (acquired by OpenTable in 2013), Reliance Partners, PriceWaiter, Bellhops Moving Help, Variable Inc. (NODE), Ambition, Feetz, and TransCard. Chattanooga went from zero investable capital in 2009 to over $50 million in 2014.

Beginning in 2009 and continuing through March 2011, when Haletown, Tennessee received service from EPB's fiber optic network, EPB began to establish its exclusive fiber optic network to its 600 sq mi (1,600 km2) service area, which covers the greater Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area.[55] In September 2010, EPB became the first municipally owned utilities company in the United States to offer internet access directly to the public at speeds up to one gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second by utilizing its fiber optic network.[56][57] The network has been emulated by at least six other cities in Tennessee and studied by other cities in the US and even internationally.[58][59]Jay Weatherill, South Australia's Premier, visited Chattanooga in January 2012 and "looked at the current gigabit network that was supporting critical city safety functions such as police and fire communications infrastructure, equipment and applications. He also inspected wastewater management, storm water management, traffic control and medical diagnostics applications [and] first-hand operations of a smart lighting and camera system that allows the police to control public lighting and see what is happening in heavy crime areas. [The article says the] use of broadband to carry the video and control signaling has contributed to making Chattanooga's Coolidge Park a safer place to visit."[60]

In 2011 the expansion of EPB's network became a subject of major controversy in Tennessee.[61] The success of its network, credited with the expansion of Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant and the establishment of Amazon.com facilities in Chattanooga and Cleveland, led to a number of legal challenges by AT&T and Comcast insisting that public funds not be used to fund expansion of public networks in competition with private ones.[62][63] However, according to EPB itself, federal agencies, electricity industry trade sources, and other press sources, the investment in the fully fiber optic network is justified by electrical system benefits alone, including early fault detection and decreases in standby power.[64][65][66][67][68][69]

Within the first four months of 2015, Chattanooga became a very hot market for bank mergers with the merging of 3 locally owned banks, and 1 in nearby Cleveland, Tennessee. CapitalMark, formed in 2007, will be acquired by the Nashville-based Pinnacle Financial Partners for $187 million to have the fourth largest market share in the Chattanooga metro area.[72] First Security Group, Inc, the largest Chattanooga-based bank, formed in 2000, will be acquired by the Atlanta-based Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc., for $160 million. Cornerstone, started in 1985, will merge with the Knoxville-based SmartBank in a stock deal. Cleveland's Southern Heritage Bank was acquired in 2014 by First Citizens National Bank in Dyersburg, Tennessee, for $32.2 million. All these mergers only leave one Chattanooga-based, independent bank, First Volunteer Bank. Others in the area locally based include Ringgold, Georgia-based Northwest Georgia Bank, Dunlap, Tennessee-based Citizens Tri-County Bank, Ooltewah-based Community Trust and Banking Co., Dayton, Tennessee-based Community National Bank, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia-based Capital Bank, LaFayette, Georgia-based Bank of LaFayette, and Cleveland-based Bank of Cleveland.[73]

The Chattanooga Police Department dates from 1852. Starting in 1883, it hired black police officers, making Chattanooga one of the first major Southern cities to have them. But after the state legislature imposed segregation, black police officers were dropped from the force. They were hired again on a permanent basis beginning on August 11, 1948, years before other major cities in the Southeast, such as Birmingham, Alabama and Jackson, Mississippi, integrated their police departments. The first seven black officers in 1948, Thaddeus Arnold, Singer Askins, W.B. Baulridge, C.E. Black, Morris Glenn, Arthur Heard, and Thomas Patterson, were initially restricted to walking beats in black neighborhoods. In 1960, black police officers were authorized to patrol all neighborhoods and arrest white citizens.[88][89][90]

The Chattanooga Public Library opened in 1905.[96] Since 1976, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library system had been jointly operated by the city and county governments; due to Chattanooga terminating a 1966 agreement with Hamilton County to distribute sales tax revenue equally, the city has taken over full funding responsibilities as of 2011.[97][98] The city was given a Carnegie library in 1904, and the two-story purpose-built marble structure survives to this day at Eighth Street and Georgia Avenue as commercial office space. In 1939, the library moved to Douglas Street and McCallie Avenue and shared the new building with the John Storrs Fletcher Library of the University of Chattanooga. This building is now called Fletcher Hall and houses classrooms and offices for the university. In 1976, the city library moved to its third and current location at the corner of Tenth and Broad streets.

Erlanger Hospital is a non-profit academic teaching center affiliated with the University of Tennessee's College of Medicine.[99] Erlanger is also the area's primary trauma center, a Level-One Trauma Center for adults, and the only provider of tertiary care for the residents of southeastern Tennessee, north Georgia, northeastern Alabama, and western North Carolina.[99] Erlanger treats approximately 250,000 people every year.[99] In 2008, Erlanger was named one of the nation's "100 Top teaching hospitals for cardiovascular care" by Thomson Reuters.[100] Erlanger has been operated by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority since 1976.[101]

Parkridge Hospital is located east of downtown in the Glenwood district and is run by Tri-Star Healthcare. Tri-Star also operates Parkridge East Medical Center in nearby East Ridge.

Chattanooga has a wide range of performing arts in different venues. Chattanooga's historic Tivoli Theatre, dating from 1921 and one of the first public air-conditioned buildings in the United States, is home to the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera (CSO), which became the first merged symphony and opera company in the United States in 1985. The CSO performs under the baton of Kayoko Dan.[109] The Chattanooga Theatre Centre offers 15 productions each year in three separate theater programs: the Mainstage, the Circle Theater, and the Youth Theater.[110][111] Another popular performance venue is Memorial Auditorium.

Chattanooga hosts several writing conferences, including the Conference on Southern Literature and the Festival of Writers, both sponsored by the Arts & Education Council of Chattanooga.[112][113][114]

Across the river from downtown is the North Shore district, roughly bounded by the Olgiati Bridge to the west and Veterans Bridge to the east. The newly renovated area draws locals and tourists to locally owned independent boutique stores and restaurants, plus attractions along the Chattanooga Riverpark system, including Coolidge Park and Renaissance Park.[115][116]

The Heritage park is a park that lies in East Brainerd. Heritage park has a bocce ball court, a playground complete with swings, and a walking pavement. The park also features an off-leash dog park which is operated by the Friends of East Brainerd, the City of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Department, McKamey Animal Center and the Goodwill Assistance Dog Academy.

Chattanooga hosts the well-known Riverbend Festival, an annual nine-day music festival held in June in the downtown area. One of the most popular events is the "Bessie Smith Strut", a one-night showcase of blues and jazz music named for the city's most noted blues singer. The annual "Southern Brewer's Festival" and the "River Roast" festival celebrate such traditional Southern staples as beer and barbecue.

New events, such as GoFest!, the "Between the Bridges" wakeboard competition, Heritage Festival, and Talespin, complement well-established events, such as Riverbend and the Southern Brewer's Festival, and attract their own audiences.[120][121] Back Row Films is a citywide celebration of film co-sponsored by the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Arts & Education Council, and UTC.[122]

"Nightfall" is a free weekly concert series in Miller Plaza on Friday nights that features an eclectic mix of rock, blues, jazz, reggae, zydeco, funk, bluegrass, and folk music from Memorial Day until the end of September.[123] The Chattanooga Market features events all year round as part of the "Sunday at the Southside", including an Oktoberfest in mid-October.

The Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival, held each June, features workshops for mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, and auto harp, among others, along with performances by champion performers from across the nation.[124]

Chattanooga is also the center of much bluegrass music. In 1935, as well as from 1993 to 1995, the city hosted the National Folk Festival. Since 2007, the annual 3 Sisters Festival showcases traditional and contemporary bluegrass artists, and has been named on of the country's top 5 bluegrass festivals by Great American Country.[125]

Each January, Chattanooga plays host to Chattacon, a science fiction and fantasy literary convention.[126] The convention is organized by the nonprofit Chattanooga Speculative Fiction Fans, Inc. First held in 1976, the convention drew an estimated 1,000 attendees to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in 2012, as well as an estimated 1,300 attendees in 2013.[127][128]

Chattanooga has a large, growing, and diversified sports scene for a city of its size, including college sports, minor league baseball, semi-professional teams, professional cycling exemplified by the VolkswagenUSA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, the Ironman Triathlon, and a large nationally renowned regatta the first weekend of November.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Mocs compete in NCAA Division I and the Southern Conference. UTC's athletic programs include football at the FCS level, women's soccer, volleyball, and cross country in the fall; men's and women's basketball, Wrestling, and indoor track & field in the winter; and softball and outdoor track & field in the spring. Men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis play in the fall and spring.

The city's semi-professional soccer team, Chattanooga FC, plays in the National Premier Soccer League and has led the league in attendance three of the four years of its existence.[citation needed] Chattanooga FC has also gone to the national finals three times since its inception, and drew a record 18,227 fans for their 2015 NPSL title match.[131] The club has also found success in the U.S. Open Cup defeating the professional USL's Wilmington Hammerheads to reach the tournament's third round in 2014 and 2015.

Chattanooga is also home to several rugby teams: the Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, Nooga Red, Nooga Black, men's Old Boys, a women's rugby team, men's and women's teams at UTC, and an all-city high school team.[132] The Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, which was established in 1978 and the 2011 and 2013 DII Mid South champions, is affiliated with USA Rugby and USA Rugby South. The club fields two teams, Nooga Red, which competes in Division II, and Nooga Black, which competes in Division III.[133] There is also a men's Old Boys team, a Chattanooga women's rugby team, as well as collegiate men's and women's teams representing the Mocs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A citywide high school rugby team, the Wolfpack, was established in 2012 and is open to any high school player living in the Chattanooga area.[132] All seven teams play their home matches at Montague Park.

Overlooking the grandstand and finish area at the 2008 Head of the Hooch

The Tennessee River, which flows through the middle of Chattanooga, is an excellent place to row.[citation needed] The Head of the Hooch rowing regatta takes place in downtown Chattanooga during the first weekend of November. The head race originally took place on the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta before moving to Chattanooga in 2005, hence the name Head of the Hooch. With 1,965 boats in 2011 and nearly 2,000 boats in 2012, this competition ranks as the 2nd largest regatta in the United States,[134] with numerous college and youth teams, such as UNC Men's Crew, Vanderbilt Rowing Club, James Madison University Crew, University of Tennessee Women's Rowing, Orlando Rowing Club, Nashville Rowing Club, Newport Rowing Club, and Chattanooga Rowing, competing.[135][136][137] There are also multiple local rowing clubs, such as the Lookout Rowing Club for adults and the Chattanooga Junior Rowing Club for high school students. The weekend of the Head of the Hooch also sees hot-air balloon rides and other activities.

In 2013, the VolkswagenUSA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships were held in Chattanooga. The schedule for the 3-day event on May 25–27 featured a handcycling time trail and various other cycling time trials and road races, including a men's road race that took the cyclists through the heart of downtown Chattanooga and up Lookout Mountain for a total race distance of 102.5 miles (165.0 km).[138]American professional cyclist Freddie Rodriguez won the national road race championship title for the fourth time in his career.[139] The Championships' debut in Chattanooga marked the first time in the event's 29-year history that women were allowed to compete for professional national titles.[140] Chattanooga will also host the Championships in 2014 and 2015.[141]

In August 2013, further cementing Chattanooga's growing status as a nationally recognized outdoor haven,[citation needed] the Chattanooga Sports Committee, an organization established in 1992 to help the city host major sporting events, announced that the Ironman Triathlon would be coming to the city in a 5-year deal. The city will become one of only 11 cities in the United States to host the grueling competition showcasing Chattanooga's natural beauty, which consists of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180 km) bike race (which will be broken down into two 56-mile (90 km) loops), and a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run (which will be broken down into two 13.1-mile (21.1 km) loops). The competition begins its first year in Chattanooga on September 26, 2014, continuing every September thereafter through 2018. The winner of the competition will get a $25,000 prize and a spot in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.[142][143]

Chattanooga has been a member of the League of American Bicyclists' Bronze level since October 2003, the only city in Tennessee to be a member of the organization before Knoxville and Nashville joined in 2010 and 2012, respectively.[145] The city boasts a number of outdoor clubs: Scenic City Velo, SORBA-Chattanooga, the Wilderness Trail Running Association, and the Chattanooga Track Club. The city also funds Outdoor Chattanooga, an organization focused on promoting outdoor recreation. In September 2004, the city appointed its first-ever executive director of Outdoor Chattanooga to implement the organization's mission, which includes promoting bicycling for transportation, recreation, and active living.[146] For paddlers, Chattanooga offers the Tennessee River Blueway, a 50-mile (80 km) recreational section of the Tennessee River that flows through Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge. The Tennessee Aquarium has a high speed catamaran, the River Gorge Explorer, to allow up to 70 people to explore the Tennessee River Gorge.[147] The Explorer departs from the Chattanooga Pier.[148] Since 2008, Chattanooga has hosted the Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship, the crowning event of the largest disc dog competition series in the world.

As of the census of 2010, there were 167,674 people, 70,749 households, and 40,384 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,222.5 people per square mile (472.5/km²). There were 79,607 housing units at an average density of 588.8 per square mile (226.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.0% White, 34.9% Black, 2.0% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.8% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin (regardless of race) comprised 5.5% of the total population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 55.9% of the population in 2010, down from 67.3% in 1980.[152][153] There were 70,749 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 26% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. 46.1% of the population was male and 53.9% of the population was female.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,817, and the median income for a family was $43,314. Males had a median income of $36,109 versus $31,077 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,756. About 14% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

Chattanooga's Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie counties in Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties in Georgia, grew from 476,531 people, as of the 2000 census, to 529,222 people, as of the 2010 census, a 9% increase during the 2000s.[154]

In addition to the restoration of downtown, many of Chattanooga's neighborhoods have experienced a rebirth of their own. Chattanooga has many buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and three neighborhoods: Ferger Place, Fort Wood, and St. Elmo. Additionally, Chattanooga has ten local historic districts: Fort Wood, Ferger Place, Glenwood, Missionary Ridge, Market and Main Streets, Market Street Warehouse, M.L. King Boulevard, St. Elmo, Stone Fort Land Company, and Stringer's Ridge.

Chattanooga, like much of Tennessee, has a four-season humid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa). Winter days are usually mild but most years have at least one day (average 3.2) where the high remains at or below freezing. Snow is not common, and many years may receive none; the 1971–2000 snowfall seasonal median was 0.6 inches (1.5 cm).[156] However, 11 inches (28 cm) was recorded between January 9–10, 2011.[156] Summers are hot and humid, with a July daily mean of 80.0 °F (26.7 °C) and 52 days annually with 90 °F (32 °C) or greater temperatures.[157]

Average annual precipitation is over 52 inches (1,300 mm). On average, November through March represents an extended relatively wet period, because of Chattanooga's frequent placement (in the winter season) in a zone of conflict between warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, dry air from Canada, amplified by jet-stream energy and abundant Gulf moisture. July presents a secondary maximum in precipitation, due to frequent thunderstorm activity. Despite the mountains that surround the city, Chattanooga can and has been threatened by tornadoes.[158] These tornadoes include the April 2011 tornado outbreak, which impacted the city and nearby locations, including Apison and Cherokee Valley just over the nearby state line in Catoosa County, Georgia, where fifteen people died, eight in Apison and seven in Cherokee Valley.[159][160][161]

Considered to be the gateway to the Deep South, along with the Midwest and the Northeast for motorists from states such as Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, Chattanooga's extensive transportation infrastructure has evolved into an intricate system of interstates, streets, tunnels, railroad lines, bridges, and a commercial airport.

Though Chattanooga's most famous connection to the railroad industry is Chattanooga Choo Choo, a song made famous by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, the city serves as a major freight hub with Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX running trains on their own (and each other's) lines. The Norfolk Southern Railway's main classification yard, DeButts Yard, is just east of downtown; Norfolk Southern's Shipp's Yard and CSX's Wauhatchie Yard are southwest of the city. Norfolk Southern maintains a large railroad repair shop in Chattanooga.[168] The two railroad companies are among the largest individual landowners in the city (the Federal Government is another).[169]

The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, often referred to as the Incline Railway by locals, serves as a tourist attraction. It is also occasionally used for commuting by Lookout Mountain residents, particularly during wintry weather when traveling up and down the mountain could be very dangerous.

Despite the high level of freight rail activity, there is no passenger rail service in the city for either commuters or long-distance travelers.

Being bisected by the Tennessee River, Chattanooga has seven bridges that allow people to traverse the river; five of the bridges being automobile bridges, one a rail bridge, and one a pedestrian bridge. These are the following, from west to east:

Walnut Street Bridge – Also known as "The Walking Bridge", it is one of the centerpieces of Chattanooga's urban renewal and is the second longest pedestrian bridge in the nation. Constructed in 1891, the bridge was declared unsafe and closed to traffic in 1978. It was on the verge of being demolished in the late 1980s when public outcry led to it being restored as a pedestrian-only span that opened in 1993.[14][172]

The Chattanooga Times Free Press, the area's only daily newspaper, is published every morning. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of two papers that had been bitter rivals for half a century, the Times and the News-Free Press. The Times was owned and published by Adolph Ochs, who later bought the New York Times. The Times was the morning paper and had a generally more liberal editorial page. The News-Free Press, whose name was the result of an earlier merger, was an afternoon daily and its editorials were more conservative than those in the Times. On August 27, 1966, the News-Free Press became the first newspaper in the nation to dissolve a joint operating agreement.[175][176] In 1999, the Free Press, which had changed its name from News-Free Press in 1993, was bought by an Arkansas company, WEHCO Media, publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which then bought The Times from the Ochs heirs.[177] The Times Free Press is the only newspaper in the United States to have 2 editorial pages, each reflecting opposite ends of the political spectrum. The Times' editorial page, which is liberal, is on the left page and the Free Press' editorial page, which is conservative, is on the right page.[178]

The Chattanooga Pulse is a free weekly alternative newspaper, published every Wednesday, that focuses primarily on arts, music, film and culture.[179] It was formed in 2003 by Zachary Cooper and Michael Kull, running independently until 2008, when the paper was purchased by Brewer Media Group, which also owns and operates five radio stations in the city.

Enigma is a free monthly pop culture and entertainment magazine.[180] Founded as a weekly newspaper in 1995 by David Weinthal, Enigma lays claim to being Chattanooga's oldest alternative newspaper, even though it had ceased physical publication from 2013 until resuming as a monthly magazine in 2015.

The Chattanooga News Chronicle is an African-American weekly newspaper.[181]

The Chattanoogan and its website "Chattanoogan.com", established in 1999, is an online media outlet that concentrates on news from Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Southeast Tennessee. The publisher is John Wilson, previously a staff writer for the Chattanooga Free Press. The Chattanoogan is the oldest online newspaper in Chattanooga.[182][183]

Nooga.com, purchased in November 2010 by local entrepreneur Barry Large, relaunched in 2011 as a local news website offering "quality daily content focusing on local business, politics, and entertainment in the Chattanooga area."[184]

Chattanooga has been referred to in pop culture numerous times over the decades, including in books, documentaries, films, TV shows, and more. In recent years, Chattanooga has appeared in more productions of blockbuster movies and TV shows, as well as independent films and documentaries.[223][224]

Chattanooga and its environs have been featured in numerous films since the early 1970s, principally due to Chattanooga being the home of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM), which has allowed its equipment to be filmed in various films.

The 1941 Glenn Miller song that catapulted Chattanooga to international fame, Chattanooga Choo Choo, has been performed in numerous movies, including the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade, featuring the Miller Orchestra and a young Milton Berle, "The Glenn Miller Story" starring James Stewart in the 1953 title roll and the 1984 eponymous film Chattanooga Choo Choo.[258]

A number of pro wrestling events, as well as other events, such as circuses, concerts, ice shows, monster truck rallies, and rodeos, have been held in Chattanooga since the late 1980s, all at UTC's McKenzie Arena, also known as The Roundhouse because of its round shape and the impact of the railroad industry on Chattanooga.[259] The events include the following:[226]

Police POV, COPS, and the MTV show Cuff'd have shown members of the Chattanooga Police Department apprehending suspects.[268] In addition to police reality shows, Chattanooga and nearby areas have been either been featured or mentioned in several TV shows, including the following:[226]

Some TV movies have been filmed in Chattanooga or nearby areas, as well, including the 1986 TV movie A Winner Never Quits.[300] In addition, the 1999 music video Usher Live, starring Chattanooga native Usher, was filmed in Chattanooga.[301]

In January 2007, all of the cities above, with the exception of Wolfsburg, had a tree native to each locale planted at Coolidge Park's Peace Grove, which was established to replace a 100-year-old Slippery Elm tree which was damaged in a lightning storm in August 2006.[312][313] Wolfsburg was added in September 2011.[314] The Peace Grove has eight trees: a Linden Tree, which represents Hamm, a Chinese Elm, which represents Wuxi, a Mediterranean Cedar, which represents Givatayim, a White Birch, which represents Nizhny Tagil, a Ginkgo Tree, which represents Gangneung, an English Elm, which represents Swindon, a European Hornbeam, which represents Ascoli Piceno, and an Oak Tree, which represents Wolfsburg.

^"The Chattanoogan". Chattanoogan.com. Retrieved July 21, 2009. Chattanoogan.com was launched Sept. 1, 1999, as one of the first full-service web-only daily newspapers in the country. Since that date, it has proven to be a pace-setter in the rapidly-developing field of Internet news publishing and has drawn a wide following and readership. It currently gets about 50,000–80,000 visits per day.

^"Internet Newspaper to Appear in Chattanooga, Tenn.". Chattanooga Times Free Press. 1999. Retrieved July 22, 2009. A new Internet venture that calls itself one of the first full-service Web-only newspapers in the country is slated to appear today in Chattanooga. Chattanoogan.com will publish Monday through Friday on the Internet at www.chattanoogan.com, said publisher and co-owner John Wilson on Tuesday. Mr. Wilson, formerly with the Chattanooga Free Press for 28 years and the Hamilton County historian, said the Internet paper will offer local news, sports, features, weather, obituaries, opinion, health, and classified advertising. ...

^Flessner, Dave (2011). "Group plans news website as Igou sells nooga domain". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved February 17, 2011. Barry Large, who co-founded Access America Transport Inc., says the new site could "transform the way people in our area gather their news, express their opinions, and plan their weekends." Large said Tuesday he is the majority owner in a group that acquired the Internet domain name nooga.com in November from Chattanooga businessman Rick Igou. Although the nooga.com site is inactive, Large said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday that he plans to launch a news site "that will provide quality daily content focusing on local business, politics, and entertainment in the Chattanooga area." "Nooga.com will go live in the near future, featuring an impressive array of writers and contributors from around the Scenic City,"